Faith-based mission on campus is unifying and drives accessibility, Elder Gilbert, President Kauwe say at conference

A faith-based mission on campus can unite people with diverse backgrounds and drive accessibility in education. That’s the message Elder Clark Gilbert, commissioner of the Church Educational System and a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and John Kauwe, president of Brigham Young University-Hawaii, said at the Arizona State University + Global Silicon Valley summit, focusing on innovation in education and the work force.

Guests at the April summit included fellow university presidents, representatives from the American Council on Education and the former undersecretary of the Department of Education, among others.

Elder Gilbert and Kauwe spoke on a panel addressing how a religious mission can drive innovation in higher education. Kristen Fox, the CEO of Business Higher Education Forum, moderated the panel, which also included Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), and Barry Corey, president of Biola University.

Kauwe referenced BYU-Hawaii’s specific mission to prepare students of Oceania and the Asian Rim “to be disciples of Jesus Christ and leaders in their families, in their communities and in their chosen fields.”

Belonging drives the university, Kauwe said, and so does “openly facing the challenges that come from diverse cultures and diverse backgrounds, and showing the world how we can create unity through religious belonging.”

“When students are on campus, we really, really focus on celebrating the cultures that they bring to our campus,” Kauwe said, referencing a culture night featuring performances from 27 different groups. Thousands of people attended, he said, “all to celebrate the joy of coming together from all over the world to pursue higher education.”

The Church Educational System has different models of university education so each university plays a unique role for students, Elder Gilbert said. The system doesn’t try to make all schools replicate the system’s flagship university in Provo, “they all have different missions.”

“BYU-Pathway has an access mission to make higher education affordable to people all over the world,” Elder Gilbert said. BYU-Pathway, which blends in-person learning experiences with online learning, launched in 2009. This year, these will be more than 70,000 students enrolled. BYU-Idaho has also tripled its enrollment during that same time.

“This is happening all across America, where young adults are looking for somewhere that will value and recognize their faith,” Elder Gilbert said. “And they don’t often feel that in other institutions.” He cited statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics that show public universities have grown at around 40% from 2000 to present day. Religious universities have grown by 80%.

“It’s the fastest growing category that the government tracks,” Elder Gilbert said.

Hoogstra referred to the rise of the “nones” — those who don’t identify with a religion. She said many of them are “looking for the answers to big questions that they have, especially as the world looks more and more out of control.”

These students value spirituality, Hoogstra said. She pointed toward data that shows when students have an environment that leans into religion or spirituality, not only are there mental health benefits, but diversity is also fostered.

“When you create a community where you have both humility of thought and high trust within the students and within the faculty, that’s where you can get the diverse kinds of conversation,” Hoogstra said as she cited statistics showing that CCCU seniors were more likely to report that they encountered diverse perspectives in course discussions and assignments than the national average.

Elder Gilbert emphasized the need to tell students that they are sons and daughters of God who have both divine worth and divine potential. Quoting from Elder Patrick Kearon, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ, Elder Gilbert said, “God is relentless in the pursuit of his children.”

“Our people have to feel that way too when they’re trying to rescue students who struggle,” Elder Gilbert said. Speaking about the faculty and administration, he said the school has talented people “because they’re committed to the religious mission.” This religious mission motivates individuals and deepens the feeling of wanting to make a difference.

Kauwe, the BYU-Hawaii president, echoed that same message of feeling a spiritual mandate to provide people with a quality education.

“What drives every aspect of our university is the understanding that the opportunity for higher education is a stewardship,” Kauwe said. The university has worked to create an accessible learning environment.

“We feel there’s a spiritual imperative to provide access to education because every human on this earth is a child of God and we believe they deserve that opportunity,” Kauwe said. The university develops access through two components: The first is leveraging BYU-Pathway to aid in preparing students from Oceania and the Asian Rim to take on higher education.

“We take those students and we say, if you finish the baseline program in that Pathway, we can bring you to BYU-Hawaii as academically eligible and that allows us to facilitate the visa process,” Kauwe said.

The second component is called the iWork program. Students can work 19 hours on campus jobs and “are able to have tuition, housing, food, fees, all taken care of and be able to live and work without fear of debt, without fear of being sent home next month because they can’t make their bills,” Kauwe said.

“I think religious universities have an additional pastoral care for their students that makes it a unique relationship,” Elder Gilbert said. “And I’ve seen this. Peter Kilpatrick, our friend at Catholic University, talks about students who go to their devotional each week and how that improves retention.”

“Or Rochelle Ford, who runs a religiously based HBCU in Louisiana, talks about how religious worship increases a sense of purpose, and that shows up in completion rates. And that is something that is an added resource to us as we work with our students.”

Corey described Biola University as “neither a bubble nor a boot camp” and said the school’s approach to helping students develop moral clarity and an ethical framework matters.

“We’re much more of a greenhouse where we want students to think deeply and ethically and morally about the issues of the day,” Corey said. He explained he tells students if they would like to pursue activism, it may be worthwhile to wait until after graduation. He encourages them to focus on “having conversations across the table rather than shouting across the street.”

While some may connect faith-based schools with conservative politics, Corey said this is a misconception and most of them are non-partisan.

“They’re conservative in that they’re trying to understand how to conserve beauty and truth and goodness and these transcendent virtues through all of our education.”